Sam Houston State beats Southern Utah 51-20 in FCS playoff opener

Updated 9:42 pm, Saturday, November 30, 2013

HUNTSVILLE - Late last week, Sam Houston State thought the season had slipped away.

On Saturday, the Bearkats regained traction.

Sam Houston State came back from an early deficit to defeat Southern Utah 51-20 in the first round of the Football Championship Subdivsiion playoffs at Bowers Stadium.

The Bearkats (9-4) lost their final two regular- season games and missed out on an automatic qualifying spot. Sam Houston State, which played in the 2011 and 2012 FCS championship games, received new life when it was selected as an at-large team to the 24-team field.

Sam Houston State advances to the second round where it will meet Southland Conference rival and No. 4 seed Southeastern Louisiana (10-2). The game will be at 7 p.m. Saturday in Hammond, La.

The Bearkats lost to Southeastern Louisiana, the SLC champion, 34-21 when the teams met in Hammond on Nov. 16.

That was the first of two losses to end the regular season. After their last one, the Bearkats wondered if they would play in the postseason.

"We had to bounce back," defensive end Andrew Weaver said. "The coaches do a good job of preparing us. We just came with it. I guess you could say we found our niche."

Coach Willie Fritz said the most critical ingredient of the turnaround was his team's improved physical effort. The Bearkats played without that edge during their last two games. Fritz preached all week they had to improve.

They did that against a team that came into the game with the 12th-best rushing defense in the country. The Bearkats stuck with the run after being limited to 4 yards on their first three drives.

But Sam Houston State broke through, and running backs Timothy Flanders and Keshawn Hill had field days. Flanders rushed for 176 yards, and Hill 101 yards. Both scored two touchdowns.

Even quarterback Brian Bell got into the act. He gained 54 yards and scored on a 1-yard sneak. Bell passed for 176 yards and two touchdowns.

"We were creating a little bit of movement, and they were running hard," Fritz said. "We were hitting it up in there and being physical. That's what it takes. We've not gotten much movement lately. We've been working like crazy on that."

Sam Houston State led 30-10 early in the third quarter, but Southern Utah responded with a field goal and a defensive touchdown in a span of 40 seconds to get within 10 at 4:46 of the third quarter.

The Bearkats did not let the Thunderbirds (8-5) get closer. They responded with a 72-yard drive that ended in Flanders' 2-yard touchdown run on the first play of the fourth quarter for a 37-20 lead.

Now that the Bearkats have rediscovered their running game, they hope for a different outcome in their rematch with Southeastern Louisiana.

"It's win or go home again," Flanders said. "We're more excited than we ever could be. We have to come ready to play."